3/27/2008 8:31:00 AM
Nick Jackson: The Independent 27 March
Young children may be receptive to languages, but until last year, language teaching in primary schools was a matter of luck. The right head and the right teachers meant that some schools were teaching French, German and Spanish, but, for most, languages were something to be left to GCSEs.All that changed last March, when the Dearing Report recommended that all primary schools should be teaching a modern foreign language by September 2009. Now, it is policy, and primary schools are racing to catch up. With the deadline to lay on a foreign language at Key Stage 2 just 18 months away, schools have already made dramatic progress. In 2002, 44 per cent offered language teaching, now 70 per cent do, and the Government has given £35m to help schools reach the target.Still, some heads will be left scratching their heads. How can primaries teach languages without a specialist? Some are turning to independent consultants for advice and materials. But government funding has already made cash available through the National Centre for Languages (Cilt), which co-ordinates the National Advisory Centre on Early Languages Learning.Independent
Curriculum / Quality Assurance
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